The London Lounge

Thank you for your kind words.

The plants and trees that are comfortable with our tropical weather grow very well but not everything.

Bananas grow all year round really well but avocados struggle here...

I understand...

Yesterday we had rain for the first time in a long time - the farm is happy.

Our soil is not that good - lots of clay and lime in our water - Our figs are wild ones so maybe not as good as yours. Persimmons are not something that I have thought of but I will look for some small plants or seeds. Limes are easy to grow here and lemons too but in Thailand lemons are not popular...

I only have one linen shirt and it is a heavy one so not perfect for the tropics. But I agree that I should have more linen clothes. Maybe I will make some shirts for myself using Belgian linen as I have rolls of it on hand for pocket squares and other projects. We grow some cotton but it is not the...

Hello Michael, A long time ago I think you mentioned an olive farm are you still a farmer? I ask as I have step by step been spending more time on my farm and I really enjoy it. Mostly I grow tropical fruits but vegetables also. The weather is hot here so I lean towards cotton clothes and almost nev...

I suspect, like many here, my only bow tie for a long time was for my DJ. I have always struggled with tieing the bow tie and attributed it to my more general lifelong struggle with knots (barely passed sailing school in my teens). I had thought that my black bow tie was long enough until one day I...

"You can never trust a computer screen, and navy is one of the most difficult colours to photograph anyway. If a colour needs to be very precise, a swatch could be a good idea." So true. I remember when we first started offering swatches I thought every now and then we would get a swatch order - in...

Mafoofan, "I ask them to use their own judgment" Perfect - it sounds like you understand how to order a bespoke tie. Don't try this at home... but you can crumble up a tie in your hand that has a good interlining and it will bounce back into shape. "no interlining at all in my seven-folds" This is a...

Mafoofan, I am curious what makes you think they are using canvas as the interlining? I ask as I have never seen a luxury tie that was made with canvas. Normally a soft, woven and combed wool, that is woven in Italy is used and at times a layer of cotton (typically light) is layered on top to add vo...

Rodes, "I would prefer to see more regimental and old school patterns, especially the guard stripe in burgundy and navy, or green and navy." Thank you for your suggestion - we will do more stripes but I am not sure when. Here are my thoughts - about 10 years ago I thought we were in the classic styl...

Michael, I agree with you and that is why your website and a few others are great for educating young men. I say a few sites because some of what I read is shall we say a bit far from reality... In the old days when every small town had a tailor things were different and father's taught their sons h...

Interesting points being made about tie quality. In Italy I still see some very beautiful silk being woven and at the top end - very luxurious. England is simply not keeping up in most cases - I don't know why so I won't speculate. Old silks are not typically going to be better quality - for sure mo...

Frederic, Thank you for your kind words. They remind me of the old Rolls Royce advertisement where someone mentions that they can hear the sound of the clock ticking. The Rolls Royce engineer comments - "Darn that clock - we will work on the sound". With that spirit let me talk about fabric, rolled ...

Michael,

Actually just after I typed my post it occurred to me that you probably meant ready made ties.

Samantha will be ready to help you in 2076 and I will leave a note for her to expect your call.

I am still curious are you involved with olives?

Wasser50, Your questions are good ones and the information in this thread is very helpful. What you as a man who wears ties likes is clearly what is best - you know the old saying: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In terms of tie construction the single most important factor is how slowly you ...